Roger Goodell is "furious" that Jerry Jones and other owners are insisting that compensation on the NFL commissioner's next contract be more performance-based and, even including incentives, would pay him roughly the same as his current deal, ESPN's "Outside the Lines" reported Thursday morning, citing an unidentified person who spoke recently with Goodell.

"He feels as if the owners have made a lot of money and he should be compensated accordingly," the person said. "The incentives thing really angers him."

However, by Thursday afternoon, the NFL was pushing back against OTL's narrative, as league spokesman Joe Lockhart told reporters Goodell isn't angry about the contract negotiations and that characterizing him as furious is "nonsense" and "nothing is further from the truth."

OTL's assertion was part of a long report that confirmed the New York Times' story on Jones' threats to sue the NFL and his fellow owners over ongoing negotiations on the commissioner's new contract. Lockhart acknowledged that the league was aware of the Cowboys owner's threat to sue but to the spokesman's knowledge no lawsuit has been formally filed.

Jones has become increasingly and more openly unhappy with Goodell's performance, particularly over his handling of protests related to the national anthem and his suspension of Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott. Jones, in fact, has said in recent weeks that the league needs to hire a new commissioner, OTL reported, citing an unidentified source.

After joining fellow owners in May in unanimously authorizing the compensation committee to work on a contract extension with Goodell, Jones last month at owners meetings in New York called Goodell's proposed new contract "the most one-sided deal ever," according to OTL, which noted that Goodell has earned more than $200 million since he was elected commissioner in August 2006.

Lockhart on Thursday said he expects Goodell's contract extension to be wrapped up soon but couldn't give an exact timeline.

While many owners, like Jones, are unhappy with Goodell and multiple unidentified sources told OTL that owners think the NFL league office is dysfunctional, a reported "silent majority" of owners wants to keep Goodell in place so he can lead the next negotiations with the NFLPA on a new collective bargaining agreement after the current CBA expires in 2021.

"Roger is seen as having done a great job in the labor negotiations last time," an unidentified executive said, "that fact alone saves him with some owners."

However, OTL's sources said that not only does Jones want Goodell out, but he also has his own candidate in mind to replace him. Though the sources didn't know that person's identity, the fact that Jones might be teeing up his own candidate has lost him potential support in ousting Goodell.

"Then Jerry will be completely in control of the league," a source told OTL. "It's turning off some owners."

Meanwhile, a league executive said Jones' injecting himself into the process, despite not being a member of the owners' compensation committee, has increased Goodell's determination to sign a new long-term deal.